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Abstract  Retail farmers' markets are seen as key institutions in a more "civic agriculture," but little is known about how they promote small business entrepreneurship. Drawing on research in economic sociology and economic geography, this paper examines the role of social learning in vendor innovation. Data from a 1999 mail survey of farmers' market vendors in California, New York and Iowa show that business innovation, as represented by intensity of vendors' innovative marketing practices and vendors' successful enterprise expansion, was modest. Social learning through engagement with customers contributed to more innovative marketing by vendors, while social learning through engagement with customers and fellow vendors increased the likelihood of vendors diversifying to additional markets beyond the farmers' market. Certain individual and enterprise characteristics also influenced vendor innovation. This suggests that, although important, the beneficial effects of social learning for vendors at farmers' markets remain moderated by human capital and structural factors.

Direct-to-consumer sales (DTC) through farmers markets, CSAs, and urban farm stands is an important venue for bringing fresh, nutritious, and regional food to urban consumers and creating economic and social linkages between urban and peri-urban farms. However, many urban consumers who use government food programs have limited access to DTC markets. Farmers Market LIFE (Local Incentives for Food and Economy) seeks to expand the customer base of farmers market shoppers in Sonoma County, California, through the acceptance of SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and Market Match, a dollar-for-dollar nutrition incentive program that makes farmers markets more economically accessible to low-income shoppers while also increasing overall sales for farmers' market vendors. We explore the use of "environmental scans" an innovative research instrument used at farmers' markets to identify social, cultural, linguistic, behavioral and economic obstacles and opportunities for low-income consumers and people of color to shop at farmers' markets. Community partners co-designed and gathered data about selected farmers markets using environmental scans in fall 2019. This methodology has proved effective in providing insight into farmers' market dynamics including potential barriers and solutions to make farmers' markets more accessible and inviting to SNAP customers and people of color. We share results of this tool as a method that others interested in community-engaged research may want to use to investigate their own unique farmers' market settings and to illustrate the nature of findings from our application of the tool in Sonoma County, California, in 2019.

According to the United States Census, California is the most urban state in the nation. Although there are many outstanding examples of urban farms in California, in general, urban agriculture (UA) has been slower to gain momentum here than in some other states with large urban populations. Over the past several years, urban agriculture's popularity in California has begun to escalate, with strong emerging interest in San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, San Diego, Los Angeles and other metropolitan communities. One challenge for urban farmers and municipal decision makers engaged with UA in California has been limited availability of relevant information and technical assistance. A new project team at the University of California Cooperative Extension, part of the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) is working to develop web-based educational resources that will be grounded in a needs assessment that is currently underway. The needs assessment includes a literature review, an internal survey of UC ANR personnel, and community clientele interviews. This paper will report on preliminary findings and analyses of the needs assessment, particularly how UC ANR personnel are engaged with UA, and what tools they think would best serve urban farmers. We suggest implications for those involved with UA, such as personnel of land-grant universities, local governments and non-profits seeking to address the needs of urban farmers in an environment of constrained resources.